PUTRAJAYA: A Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) lecturer who was caught in a controversy over Islamic and Asian Civilisation Studies (TITAS) teaching material last month, has been sacked.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said the ministry has decided to terminate the contract of the lecturer, who had prepared lecture material deemed derogatory to the Hindu and Sikh communities.
"The university has decided to end the lecturer's contract as he did not follow the guidelines set by the ministry.
"We are serious about the issue and we have taken stern against the lecturer," he told reporters today.
To avoid incidents such as this in the future, he said close monitoring will be done on what is being taught to students in universities.
The lecturer was on a one-year contract with the university after retirement.
Earlier today, on a talk show programme on radio station BFM, Idris said UTM is an autonomous body and has the right to sack the lecturer.
UTM’s Tamadun Islam dan Tamadun Asia (TITAS) subject slides caused an uproar among the Hindu and Sikh communities after they went viral on social media recently.
The module was made mandatory for all tertiary students in 2013.
Idris said the lecturer went beyond the ministry's curriculum.
"TITAS is required but what happened in UTM is that he went out of the way. He did not use the curriculum provided by the ministry.
"We are serious about this. We have to take stringent action against it," he told the radio channel.